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Caribbean Cruising -
A Kid's Adventure
4/15/02
Kurtis Meilink
The author, Kurtis, and his sister
Christin at The Baths, British Virgin Islands
Cruising in the
Caribbean is a must for children that like to explore and learn. Each
island has different places worth seeing and every day is an adventure with
something new to learn.
My family and I spent a year exploring the Caribbean aboard our
boat, Milady.
The European
influence on the Caribbean islands is still evident.
I loved eating cakes and pastries for breakfast and bagets for
lunch in the French islands. In
the British islands, touring aboard fast minivans with loud music and 20
new friends can be very exciting. The British island’s culture includes
open-air markets with people selling honey coated peanuts with ginger and
picking fresh Caribbean fruits and vegetables.
I learned about the different currencies of the islands by collecting
money.
The French islands just changed their currency to the Euro on January
1st, 2002. The British
islands have the Eastern Caribbean dollar.
Finally, the Dutch have the Caribbean Guilders.
The
cruising life includes arriving at an island and getting to town to
explore the island. The key thing to remember is that everything is an
adventure. My favorite adventures were exploring Grenada and Arecibo, Puerto
Rico. My recommendations of
places to see are:
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Bahamas: Snorkeling at the caves and the
Sea Aquarium at Cambridge Cay (or Bell and Little Bell island.)
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Virgin Islands:
Climbing the boulders at the Bathes and Snorkeling on the Wreck of the
Rhone.
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St. Kitts and Nevis: Learning about the
Batik Factory and the fort at St. Kitts
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St Vincent and Bequia: Learning about the
turtles at the Turtle Sanctuary
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Grenada: See everything possible.
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Guadeloupe and Les Saints: Eating ice
cream in the town of Terre-De- Hut and exploring Fort Napoleon
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Martinique: Learning about the volcano
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St.
Martin: Viewing native Caribbean
animals at the zoo
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Puerto Rico: Learning about science at
the Universe at Arecibo Radio Telescope and Visitors Center
In addition to
all the adventures, there are several responsibilities on a boat. The
biggest responsibility is doing night watches while sailing. A night watch is a routine
that involves taking care of boat safety, checking your heading (or
course), drift, position, charts, radar, instruments, sails, anything
unexpected above deck, and looking around you every 10 minutes to make
sure you’re not going to hit anything.
Another
responsibility is doing school. We
do home schooling aboard our boat.
Home schooling is fun and depending on how hard you work you could
be a grade ahead when you get back. Just consider the adventures that are
waiting for you to discover when you finish your work for the day. You can’t get that in traditional schools!
(Note to parents: Depending on the child, school could be a couple
hours to all day long)
There are
several experiences that I have enjoyed while cruising. Still I have four experiences
that are my favorites. Catching a 4ft. 2in. Mahi Mahi off Black Point, Exuma, Bahamas
and swimming with the wild Bottle Nose dolphins 1 foot away while in
Honeymoon Harbor, St. Thomas are the most memorable. Meeting up with old friends is always fun. Also,
arriving and exploring new islands is a favorite for everybody.
There are
several places to meet other kids. The ones listed below are places with
lots of kids at certain times.
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Black Point, Exuma, Bahamas: Great place
for meeting the friendly local kids, year-round.
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Georgetown, Exuma, Bahamas: Cruising kids
during the cruising Regatta (April).
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Maho Bay, St Johns, US Virgin Islands:
During Christmas and spring break.
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Hog Island, Grenada: Lots of kids during
hurricane season.
Every person’s perspective on cruising
is different. In my view,
cruising is great and I wish I'd never have to quit. Everyone should
do it at least once during his or her life. In
my opinion the kids have more fun then the adults. This is because the kids seem more adventurous. There
are also a lot of kids on the water; more than you’d think. However, the
best thing about cruising is the learning experience. The
adventure that goes along with it makes cruising a paradise for kids.
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Kurtis and Christin make new friends at Les
Saints
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Kurtis, Sandy, and Christin show off their new
St. Bart's Hats
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Christin outside the sugar mill on St. John,
USVI
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Exploring the fort at St. Kitts
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Open-air market in Tobago
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Touring Fort Napoleon,
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Brad and Christin make a jump for it at a
waterfall in Grenada
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Brad shows off Milady's Mahi Mahi catch |
Milady's favorite island act - Michael Beans,
Virgin Islands |
Monkeying around in Nevis
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